MEDIA RELEASE
2025-03-06
SUMMARY: The Labour Party of South Africa (Labour Party) has welcomed the restoration of electricity in Ward 3 of the Greater Taung Municipality following its intervention. The Party says the development reflects its commitment to practical action that restores essential services to communities.
The Labour Party welcomes the restoration of electricity in Ward 3 of the Greater Taung Municipality following a power outage that affected residents after a rainstorm on 28 February 2026.
South Africa is experiencing a crisis in service delivery. Research on the National State of Service Delivery in South Africa notes a rise in service delivery protests, many of which relate to basic services such as electricity.
In the same paper, the problem statement refers to the Auditor-General’s 2024 findings that many municipalities show non-compliance with basic financial management practices. The paper concludes that the service delivery crisis is multifaceted and is intensified by poor planning, corruption and a lack of accountability.
After the interim Labour Party Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) was alerted to the challenges faced by residents who had been without electricity, the Labour Party, through its PEC, formally reported the electrical fault to Eskom on 5 March 2026.
The intervention followed failed attempts and broken promises by the elected councillor to restore the electricity in the village.
The Chief of Leselong village in the Greater Taung Municipality expressed his gratitude with seeing the Labour Party taking the lead in this crisis. “The councillor has been of no assistance, and we would be grateful for the Labour Party to assist”, said the Chief of the village.
The outage had placed significant strain on households, small businesses, and community facilities that rely on electricity for daily activities.
Late in the evening on 5 March 2026, the interim PEC received confirmation from a community member that electricity had been restored. “This is just one intervention that is part of our broader commitment to confronting the lack of accountability and service delivery in municipalities”, said interim North West Provincial Election Coordinator Molotlegi Tlatsoeng.
A resident of the village indicated that the restoration followed the Labour Party’s intervention in escalating the matter to the relevant authorities.
“It is not that we didn’t try, but our efforts were clearly not enough. We are grateful that the Labour Party supported our community in this way by assisting us to have our electricity back”, said an affected community member.
Through active advocacy, community engagement, and direct intervention, the Labour Party will continue to stand with residents to ensure that their concerns are heard and addressed.
The Labour Party remains committed to pragmatic solutions to real problems that affect real people. By restoring the dignity of communities, people will realise that the power is in their hands.
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